Brief Summary Of Dowdel's Struggles

In the beginning, you meet the narrator, Joey Dowdel. He introduces some significant family members, his sister Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel. The story explains their adventures at their Grandma’s house, in Chicago. The siblings stay at her house for a week every year, and each year they grow more mature. Going to Grandma Dowdel’s house influences Joey and Mary Alice, although it is not in a good way usually. During their trips to her house, they learn things like how mean Grandma can act towards her people in her neighborhood. For example, starting on page 91, we are told that Miz Eubanks, someone from the neighborhood, comes to Grandma’s door to supposedly get her daughter, Vandalia, back. She says that they have Vandalia, which Grandma is unaware of. Since Grandma would not let Miz Eubanks enter her house,

It states, “Another war came, World War II, and I wanted to get in it… I only hoped the war would last long enough to make a flier out of me, and so it did. I joined up at Fort Sheridan for the Army Air Corps.” The end also helps me understand how Grandma is still a big part of his heart, because on the last page, it says, “Now we were rolling past, and there was Grandma herself… She couldn’t know what car I was in, but her hand was up, and she was waving—waving big at all the cars, hoping I’d see. And I waved back. I waved long after the window filled with darkness and long distance.” From the book, we learned not to judge a book by its cover, especially since Grandma may seem old but is a tough woman. The lesson also reminds me of the first book of the series Land of Stories because the Grandma turned out to be Cinderella’s fairy godmother, which surprised twins Alex and Conner. Overall, the book A Long Way from Chicago was a great book. It had character change, and the author explains things without actually telling the